


Stories By The Engine

by LiterallyThePresident



Category: Wolf 359 (Radio)
Genre: Flashbacks, Temporary Character Death, The main focus is really one story but still
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-08
Updated: 2018-10-08
Packaged: 2019-07-27 22:17:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16228412
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LiterallyThePresident/pseuds/LiterallyThePresident
Summary: Maxwell and Eiffel have to work together, and they swap stories to pass the time





	Stories By The Engine

**Author's Note:**

> I was inspired by the movie Poseidon lol. If anyone likes, this is how I imagine the characters look http://a-greatbig-bottleof-fuck.tumblr.com/post/178049990807?is_related_post=1#notes

“And that’s why Kate didn’t let me near the blender for six months.” Eiffel finished, grinning proudly at Maxwell’s laughter. Engine-sitting sucked, but at least it meant quality bonding time with one of the many terrifying women in Eiffel’s life.

“Okay, I was not expecting the turn that story took.” she laughed, “A fucking  _goat_?”

“I know!” he grinned, “I still can’t look at a farm without wanting to barf.”

“Christ, you’ve ruined thanksgiving forever now.” she said, earning herself a goofy wink.

“I live to ruin things.” he gave her finger guns, “What about you? You got any fun stories? I mean, obviously you must, but like any that you’re willing to share that  _aren’t_  gonna ruin my day?”

“Well... Hm...” she tapped her chin thoughtfully, “Oh! There was this one time we all thought Jacobi was dead for two whole weeks.”

“What?” Eiffel blinked, “Hold on, we go from thanksgiving shenanigans to  _presumed_   _death_?”

“Yeah.” she grinned without missing a beat, “Wanna hear the story or not?”

“...Sure, why not? Gotta pass the time somehow.” Eiffel shrugged, settling back against the wall.

 

“ _My_   _first_   _solo_   _mission_   _since_   _I_   _joined_   _this_   _team_ ,  _Alana_.  _What’s_   _there_   _to_   _be_   _worried_   _about_?”

 

“So Jacobi was on assignment on some ocean liner in the Pacific.” she started, “Some undercover mission to get intel from some important diplomat on board. Kepler would have gone, but he was on probation, and if anyone could play a cocky yet charming gambler, it would be Jacobi. We were, of course, ordered not to contact him on pain of death. He was only supposed to be gone a week. But of course...”

 

_“I was just calling to give my condolences.” Cutter’s voice over the phone sent her blood pressure skyrocketing._

_“What for, sir?” she asked, keeping her voice calm and even._

_“Oh?” she was certain the surprise in his voice was fake, “You haven’t heard? Oh, I’m terribly sorry about that, Alana. But I suppose you had to find out somehow.”_

_“Find out what, sir?” she asked calmly, heart pounding in her chest._

_“Daniel Jacobi was lost at sea this morning when his ship was capsized by a... **sizable**  explosion.” Cutter’s voice was dripping with false sympathy, “It’s such a shame. He was such a fine operative, and no doubt an enjoyable teammate. It’s a tragedy to lose him to something so... preventable. The ocean is a cruel mistress, isn’t she? Taking the people we love without warning, and without a care in the world.”_

_The ground dropped out from under her feet. There was a ringing in her ears and a swooping in her stomach. She felt ill._

_“...What...?”_

 

“His ship capsized and sank.” she said, voice quieting a little at the memories, “His cover was blown and he was backed against a wall and forced to detonate a bomb he’d placed in the starboard side. He was presumed KIA.”

“Ah jeez.” Eiffel said, brown eyes sympathetic as he diplomatically elected not to bring up the hundreds of innocents who must have died at sea that day, “That... couldn’t have been easy.”

“Hearing about it was like getting punched in the gut.” she replied easily, “Cutter called me first with the news. Probably some mind game thing. He probably wanted Kepler to hear it from me. It would hurt more coming from me, I’m terrible at hiding when I’m devastated.”

“That sounds like Cutter.” Eiffel sighed, “So how did Colonel Hardass take the news?” Alana tried to choose her words carefully.

“...Through gritted teeth.” she said after a moment, “He demanded I check and recheck my information, went so quiet that I thought he’d hung up, then tersely thanked me and hung up. I didn’t see him for three days after that.” She hadn’t cared, either. Too lost in her own mourning.

 

_“Did you hear Major Kepler destroyed three punching bags in the gym yesterday?” a secretary whispered to her friend at the table nearby._

_“I heard him.” the friend nodded, “I just steered clear. That man had murder in his eyes.”_

_“I wonder what got him so upset.”_

 

“Huh.” Eiffel said, “Almost sounds like he cares.”

“Almost, right? That was... You know, that was probably the worst two weeks of my SI-5 career.” Maxwell said slowly, “I was a fucking wreck without Daniel. To the point where Kepler ordered me to take a few days off so I didn’t get anyone killed. We’d always thought Jacobi was the one who was lost without me, but that was the day me and everyone else learned it wasn’t as one sided as everyone believed.”

 

_“Maxwell, is that Jacobi’s sweater?”_

_“What about it, Major?”_

_“And his pillow?”_

_“Yes?”_

_“...Maxwell, when was the last time you slept in your own apartment?”_

_“When was the last time you slept, period, sir?”_

_“...Get back to work, Maxwell.”_

 

“That sounds awful.” Eiffel said quietly. Maxwell laughed bitterly.

“I wasn’t as bad as Kepler, though.” she continued, “I was pretty open about my grief. I let it out, I acknowledged it. Kepler tried to bury it, pretend like it wasn’t there. He kept insisting he was fine, that Jacobi’s loss was ‘regrettable, but not a crippling blow’. He buried everything deep inside and tried to act like he wasn’t affected.”

“Cold.” Eiffel commented dryly, earning a laugh from her.

“Yeah.” she agreed, and god damn it no fair how Eiffel’s easy nature managed to make her feel relaxed, even just for a little bit, “But you should have seen him. He was... bad.”

“Bad?”

 

_“If you say his name again, Maxwell, I will personally smash that god damned computer of yours!”_

 

“Bad.” she nodded, “Tense and wired, snapping at the littlest things and staying up late reading report after report about the sinking. Turning to make a comment to Jacobi before remembering he wasn’t there, snapping at the replacement to the point of making him cry. I... even walked in on him with an empty bottle of scotch once.” He’d been saving that scotch. She noticed Eiffel’s eyes grow tight. Like he understood.

 

_Breaking into Daniel’s apartment was second nature to her at this point, but she hadn’t expected to find Kepler already there, head in his hands and an empty bottle on the table beside him._

_“Sir? What are you... Are you...okay?” she asked warily, Jacobi’s jacket drawn around her shoulders. It still carried a hint of his scent even after a week. Kepler tensed. Like he’d been so lost in thought he hadn’t heard her come in. That was a bad sign._

_“Fine.” his voice was hoarse. He kept his eyes hidden from her, shrouded as he was in the darkness of the room, “What do you need?”_

_“Is that your scotch?”_

_“What do you **need**?” he demanded again, and his voice was scratchy and raw._

_“I just... wanted to...” she couldn’t finish the sentance. He’d call it stupid._

_“Sleep in his bed?” he supplied hollowly, surprising her, “Just for one night?”_

_“...Yeah.” she deflated, caught. He gave a bitter little chuckle._

_“Yeah.” he echoed, “Me too.”_

 

“You didn’t hear this from me, but I even heard him have a nightmare once when he fell asleep on a stakeout.” she continued, “And he never fell asleep on stakeouts.”

“A nightmare?” Eiffel snorted, “ _Kepler_?”

“Oh, I know.” she laughed, “But I know what I heard. And I heard him bolt upright and shout Jacobi’s name. I pretended I hadn’t heard, and he pretended he didn’t know I had heard.”

“Sounds tough.” Eiffel said, for lack of anything else to say.

“It was.” she said, “It was the toughest two weeks of my life.”

“What happened next?”

 

“Jacobi came back.” she shrugged, “With some new scars and a new apprehension of water, and a whole lot of ptsd, but otherwise fine. He’d met up with a few survivors and they’d found a way out of the wreckage before it sank entirely.”

  


 

_“What?” the arrogant bastard smirked as if he hadn’t put them through hell, “You guys thought a little thing like the **ocean**  could kill me? Not a chance!”_

 

“When we saw him again... I’d never seen that look on Kepler’s face before.” she said, eyes going distant, “His eyes were... I dunno. When he saw Jacobi alive and smirking. He actually let his face crumble for a hot second. And I swear his voice cracked for a split second when he said Jacobi’s name. And then... We talked. And everything was back to normal.”

 

_Kepler’s arms were tight around Jacobi, his nose pressed to his hair. “Never. Do something so **stupid**. Again.” he growled, the threat belied by his death grip on the man. Alana clung to him from behind, tears falling freely into Jacobi’s shirt._

_“You fucking asshole.” she sobbed, clutching him like a lifeline, “You fuck! I’ll never forgive you for this!”_

_“You are in a lot of trouble, Mr. Jacobi.” Kepler growled, “You cost me a very good bottle of scotch.”_

_“H-Huh?” Jacobi blinked, confused by the embrace and the uncharacteristic display of affection._

 

“Just back to normal, huh?” Eiffel blinked.

“Yeah.” Maxwell smirked, “Except for the fact that Jacobi was banned from solo missions for months and Kepler kept such a close eye on him afterwards that Jacobi had to sneak out like a teenager just to run to the store. Cutter himself even compared Kepler and I to brooding hens.” Eiffel laughed at that, and Maxwell laughed as well.

 

_“I’m not gonna break!” Jacobi huffed, “I can take care of myself! Christ, you guys are like my parents but worse! First Alana locks me in my room, then Kepler sticks me on desk duty for weeks, and now you two are literally setting traps outside my window!”_

_“Well, until you have proven that we can let you out of our sight without you blowing yourself up,” Kepler drawled, “we will continue to treat you like someone who needs watching.”_

_“This is ridiculous!” he huffed, “Are you guys gonna get this clingy every time I have a near death experience?”_

_“You want to watch how you speak to me, Mr. Jacobi.” Kepler said lowly, “Remember you’re on incredibly thin ice.” Jacobi fell sullenly silent, glaring at the floor._

_“I just... wanted to visit the kid.” he said after a moment._

_“What kid?” Kepler demanded as Alana gave an understanding smile. Jacobi had told her all about the brave little boy who loved boats but loved cool explosions more, who had latched onto Jacobi as a man who would keep him alive. And how Jacobi had felt responsible for him, and how the determination to bring that kid home had helped him when he was about to freak out a few times._

_“The kid.” he shrugged, “One of the survivors I helped save. A little kid, like ten, lost his mom when the ship flipped. He got hurt but he kept going, and he talked to me about bombs and stuff the entire time we were crawling through that ship. And I wanted to visit him in the hospital. That’s all.”_

_That’s when they finally noticed the stuffed dolphin in his hand. And with it a Goddard Futuristics check with enough to pay a kid’s medical bills for life._

 

“So that’s that story.” she sighed, “Not nearly as funny as the Blender Caper.” Not funny at all, come to think of it. Not when Jacobi had slept in Alana’s bed for days afterwords, waking up shaking and gasping for air, shouting in his sleep about fire and bodies and  _take my hand, damn it kid, reach!_

“Still entertaining.” Eiffel shrugged, “Anything beats engine-sitting.”

“Fair enough.” she laughed, “Okay, your turn.”

“Okay.” Eiffel sat up straighter, “Are you ready to finally learn about the Empty Man we keep referencing?”

“God yes.” she grinned, settling back to let him talk. He began enthusiastically, with lots of hand movements and spirited imitations. His Minkowski in particular was absolutely hilarious. Alana let her mind wander as Eiffel talked, memories drifting in and out like clouds on a sunny day.

 

“ _Mr_.  _Jacobi_?”

“ _Yeah, boss?”_

“... _It’s good to have you back.”_

 

 


End file.
